Will be catching them at Splendour in the Grass. Not quite the same as seeing them in a club but Byron in winter has a pretty splendiferous vibe all of its own. (Two days - must confess I'm a little excited!)

I see they've got a show at the Zoo in Brisbane as well so no doubt there will be some good reports around the place.

i'm gutted - i didn't go to their london gig a couple of weeks back out of pure laziness thinking I'd get to see them at the essential festival in august & now that's been cancelled so i don't want to hear how good they are!!!!

but i did manage to catch NERD @ sheperds bush empire a couple of weeks back who were absolutely stormin' even with a guest appearance from Kelis (not my bag but went down well anyway)...
& cornelius on monday, astounding visuals, drop played beautifully & even a rendition of love me tender on the theremone!!!!

but i did manage to catch NERD @ sheperds bush empire a couple of weeks back who were absolutely stormin' even with a guest appearance from Kelis (not my bag but went down well anyway)...& cornelius on monday, astounding visuals, drop played beautifully & even a rendition of love me tender on the theremone!!!!

i have gone a lurid shade of green! damn i hope those acts eventually make it down our way! anyone have any early gossip about the summer festivals?

i'm gutted - i didn't go to their london gig a couple of weeks back out of pure laziness thinking I'd get to see them at the essential festival in august & now that's been cancelled so i don't want to hear how good they are!!!!

well for everyone else (;)), they were really excellent (even with gift's bung foot...), couldn't have asked for more. mcsteveg, what'd ya think of 'em (and how was the rest of splendour?)

Apologies for the length of time to post anything post-Byron. Was a hectic weekend followed by a hectic day or two at work.

My reviewing skills may not be of the class of some of the correspondents who have provided excellent reports here (I'm buggered if I can remember half of the songs sometimes, let alone samples!) but I'll give it a shot.

I'll go with the hazier of the two days - the Saturday - first. Some quick random thoughts. From the main tent my picks were: Drag (nice acoustic harmony etc from Darren from Powderfinger), Rocket Science (stonking organ, pretty familiar set for those who have seen them before), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (got the place jumping big time), Gomez (heavy on the new album, got a rousing encore though Whippin Piccadilly).

Mix tent: If I heard Without Me once, I heard it 100 times over the weekend. Just about everyone seemed to be dropping it into mixes. Didn't spend as much time here on Sat as schedules/friends etc didn't always fit. Gerling were typically manic, caught the end of Katalyst and wished I'd seen more; was disappointed with what I saw of Bentley Rhythm Ace - might have been my powers of perception but nothing grabbed me. They seemed to have technical hassles as well which might not have helped. But Dexter came to the rescue! Had the place roaring - I met up with some English backpackers the next day who were raving about him - the set was pretty familiar from what I have heard/read in the past. BTW, can anyone help me with name of the old 20s style "crazy-leg" jazz stuff he drops in at the start? Didn't stay for the Resin Dogs but a friend who did reported that it was sensational (a new song or two he thought?).

Sunday was a slow start but the Mix tent proved to be the musical equivalent of Red Bull, with Rhibosome, 2 Dogs and Offcutts doing their best to rouse the hungover hordes. Impressed with Rhibosome - they generate a heap of sound, bit of dub chucked in there, noticed Dave from the Resin Dogs getting down to them. Offcutts seemed a bit cartoonish at times (not sure what the skateboard leaps off the mixing desk were about) but they had plenty of energy. 2 Dogs threw in the likes of C+C Music Factory, Prince, Queen, Technotronix

Did some roaming after that - caught Spiderbait in the main tent (technical hassles in the first half hampered them) and Machine Gun Fellatio (as distinct as ever, debuted a new song 'I'm Going Down To PussyTown" and got the audience to sing along), before getting set for Doves. This was a bit of a problem, as Blackalicious were due to start during their set but fortunately, it took an age to set up Blackalicious so they ended up starting 30 minutes late. A spot of texting and I was able to see Doves (exceptional stuff, moody, passionate, swirly - I reckon they would have made a heap of new fans) before dashing across to the Mix Tent.

If you've got this far in this long-winded postcard, then well done and thanks for bearing with me.

Blackalicious really lapped up the festival vibe - brought the lights up heaps of time to see everyone, plenty of talking, audience interaction etc.
In addition to Gift of Gab (who started off on his office chair, one of the more surreal things to see on a stage) and Chief Xcel, there were two singers and their turntablist (whose name escapes me just at this point - sorry, but who dropped in some choice stuff - Beastie Boys Hey Ladies being one that I actually could name and recognise)

Some of the highlights were Blazing Arrow, Make You Feel That Way, A To G, Chemical Callisthenics, First in Flight, Brainwashers, Sky Is Falling

Having a chat later, one of my companions compared the set to Michael Franti's show with Spearhead last year and I'm inclined to agree. A great rapport and some quality thoughts within the music.

And before I forget, whoever was in charge of the between set music in the Main Tent gets a thumbs up for whacking on Since I Left You during the interlude before the Doves came on. Nice one.

Finished the day with Supergrass (plenty of energy, lots of singalongs) and dragged my weary body off.

nice report steve ... it matches up with a lot of what my sister says... she went up to splendour for her 19th birthday. it was the first time she'd seen dexta, and she had pretty much the same reaction as those british backpackers

& i could have sworn there was a counter selling stuff in the top back corner near to the toilets

good it was tho i saw them about 2 months ago at the festival hall which was a much longer gig that basically played through point track by track now that was something magical
comedy random strager quote of the eveing was "ahhh is that a girl on drums? she's fantastic - if she's that good on drums imagine what she's like in bed.... wow" to which he stumbled off a very happy man!

& i could have sworn there was a counter selling stuff in the top back corner near to the toilets... comedy random strager quote of the eveing was "ahhh is that a girl on drums? she's fantastic - if she's that good on drums imagine what she's like in bed.... wow" to which he stumbled off a very happy man!

was that downstairs? stupidly, i let my girlfriend book the tickets, and despite the fact she knows we always - always - stand, she booked seats because she thought we 'might be tired'. eh?

so, i didn't see downstairs at all...

it was only a minor gripe though, it was still a great night

and yeah - the drummer was really, really, good - i was impressed, although i must admit it didn't automatically make me think she'd be a great lay...

i've learnt from experience to always go standing, especially at sheperd's bush - the first time i saw lamb play was from the top balcony there & I could just about make out the top of Andy Barlow's head & a rather large & enthusiastic crowd enjoying themselves a little bit more than I was, not an experience to be repeated!

i've learnt from experience to always go standing, especially at sheperd's bush - the first time i saw lamb play was from the top balcony there & I could just about make out the top of Andy Barlow's head & a rather large & enthusiastic crowd enjoying themselves a little bit more than I was, not an experience to be repeated!